The county of Flanders was created 864 when the French king Charles the
Bald granted it as a fief to his son-in-law Baldwin with the Iron Arm. Flanders was a part of France but distinguished itself from the rest of the country
with its Germanic Flemish population and close economic ties to England.
Unlike other French fiefs it was never returned to the French king's
control, instead it became a part of the duke of Burgundy's possessions in
1384, which would evolve into present day Belgium.